Bacteriological handling apparatus



[re/7e R. Rozyc/(i ATTORNEY Dec. 4, 1962 l. R. ROZYCKI BACTERIOLOGICAL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed July 15, 1959 iJLJL] ["I l l L 25 TUE .l llllll- Filed July 15, 1959, Ser. No. 827,990 2 Claims. (Cl. 23-259) This invention relates to an adjustable support or rack for holding bacteriological handling instruments such as inoculating loops, needles, forceps, and tweezers during the sterilization thereof. Such instruments are commonly used in a bacteriology laboratory, and the conventional method of sterilizing them is to place the contaminated ends thereof in the flames of a Bunsen burner. Once the instruments are sterilized, it is desirable that they be maintained in readiness for use in such manner as not to become further contaminated by bacteria outside of the particular culture media to be handled.

It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide a rack for holding bacteriological handling instruments for purposes of sterilization and for ready and convenient use.

- Another object of this invention is to provide a rack of the above type which is vertically adjustable and horizontally tiltable whereby the instruments may be placed in any desired position and at an optimum angle for projecting the contaminated ends thereof into the fiame of the Bunsen burner.

Yet another object is to provide a device having the above characteristics whereby the instruments are movable into and out of the burner fiame without the necessity of directly handling them.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a rack upon which the instruments may be quickly and easily placed and removed and which will be safely and adequately held in readiness for immediate use by the laboratory technician.

Further objects of this invention and the invention itself will become clear from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which said drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the rack and an associated Bunsen burner illustrating the use of the rack, said rack being shown partially in section;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the supporting tray of the rack as seen from the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section taken along the line 44 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary elevation similar to FIG. 1 showing a pair of forceps mounted in the tray.

Referring now to the figures of the drawings in all of which like parts are designated by like reference characters and particularly to FIG. 1, at 1 is shown the adjustable rack which comprises a base 2, an upright column 3, a vertically adjustable sleeve '4, and a tiltable tray 5. As herein illustrated, the base 2 has a centrally disposed, vertically upstanding collar 6 projecting from the upper surface thereof, said collar providing a socket 7 into which the supporting column 3 is slidably and rotatably fitted. The sleeve 4 is slidably telescoped over the column 3 at the uppermost end thereof and is vertically slidable thereupon. The lowermost end 4a of the sleeve 4 is internally threaded as indicated at 8 and adapted to receive an externally threaded collet 9. The collet 9 is centrally, longitudinally bored at 9a to slidably fit over the column 3 whereby it is threaded into the sleeve 4. The upwardly directed end of said collet is provided with a plurality of tapered, circumferentially evenly interspaced fingers 10. The tapered fingers -10 are adapted to wedgingly interfit a complementarily tapered seat 11 in the sleeve 4. The lowermost end of the collet 9 is provided with a radially outwardly projecting, preferably States atent O liflhzdih Patented Dec. l, 1962 knurled gripping portion 12 whereby said collet may be grasped to rotate it.

The collet 9 operates in a conventional manner whereby when it is turned by the gripping portion 12 to move upwardly in the sleeve 4, the tapered fingers it are wedgingly forced into the tapered seat 11 which causes them to be cammed radially inwardly against the supporting column 3 to firmly grip said column. To adjust the rack vertically, the operator loosens the collet 9, moves the sleeve 4 to the desired height, and then retightens said collet. The upper end 4b of the sleeve 4 projects upwardly above the column 3 and is slightly flattened in one dimension to provide a non-circuit socket 13.

The tray 5 is mounted, at the bottom surface thereof, upon one end of a short supporting arm 14. The arm 14 is secured to the tray 5 in any suitable manner such as by soldering, brazing, or welding. The downwardly directed endof the arm 14 is provided with a clevis 15 adapted to interfit an upwardly projected pivot portion 16 of a stub shank 17 which is adapted to rernovably interfit the upper socket 13. The clevis l5 and the pivot portion 16 are adjustably pivotally secured together by means of an adjusting screw 18 which projects through suitable openings in said clevis and said pivot portion and is preferably thread fitted into one arm 15a of the clevis 15.

By loosening the screw 18, the rack 5 may be tilted to any desired angle about the pivot portion 16 of the removable shank 17. Said tray may be readily removed from the rack 1 if so desired by lifting the stub shank 17 out of the socket 13. In this way an entire tray of instruments may be removed from or placed on the rack 1.

The tray 5 is preferably manufactured from flat sheet metal and comprises a fiat, rectangular plate 20 having upstanding wall portions 21 at two opposed edges thereof, the upper end of said wall portion being right angularly bent toward each other whereby they are parallel to and spaced above the said plate 29 as indicated at 22. As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the wall portions 21 are slotted as shown at 23, said slots extending downwardly to within a short distance of the plate 29. The slots in one of the walls 21 are longitudinally aligned with the slots in the opposite said wall and extend upwardly through the bent portions 22.

. As herein illustrated, the support rack of this invention is shown in association with a conventional Bunsen burner B of the type commonly used in laboratories. However, it will be understood that any suitable sterilizing means may be used.

The burner B comprises a base 30 having an upstanding gas conduit 31 surmounted by a gas jet 32 positioned within an air opening 33. A burner table 34 extends upwardly above the gas jet 32 and emits a sterilizing flame F into which the contaminated work ends of the handling instruments are placed.

By means of said aligned slots 23 of the tray wall portions 21, a bacteriological handling instrument, such as an innoculating loop or a needle, is supported upon the tray 5. The instrument, shown at 24, is placed with the shank 25 thereof in a pair of the aligned slots 23, the handle 26 of said instrument being adjacent the outside surface of one of the walls 21. By tilting the rack 5 about the pivot 16, the contaminated end or loop 27 of the instrument can be directed at a convenient angle into a flame F of a conventional Bunsen burner B or other sterilizing device. The handle 26 of the instrument 24, which is considerably larger than the slot 23, prevents the said instrument from slipping out of its adjusted position. It will be understood that a plurality of such needle-like instruments may be simultaneously mounted upon the same tray 5 to be sterilized simultaneously.

After the instruments are sterilized, if they are not to be immediately used by the technician, they may be left a on the tray and are removable from the flame of the Bunsen burner merely by pivoting the support column 3 in the socket '7. The decontaminated work ends 27 are thus rotated away from the flame without the necessity of handling the instruments.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the plate 29 is provided with a longitudinal aperture '23 adjacent one edge thereof whereby instruments of other shapes, such as tweezers and forceps, may be placed on the tray 5. The said aperture 23 may be used in various ways for various instruments, examples of two such uses being shown in FIGS. 3 and 5.

In FIG. 3 there is shown in broken line a pair of tweezers 4t) comprising a pair of parallel leg members 41 and 42 which are integrally joined at the uppermost ends thereof as indicated at 43. The leg member 41 is threaded downwardly through the aperture 28 with the leg member 42 being positioned outside the adjacent edge 29a of the plate 243. In this position, the tray 5 may be tilted to any desired angle to bring the lowermost work end 44 of said tweezer into contact with the flame F of the burner B.

When such instruments as tweezers are being sterilized, it is, of course, necessary to tilt the tray 5 away from the burner thereby pivoting the work end 44 of said tweezer upwardly to an optimum position for entering the flame F. This principle is well illustrated in H6. 5 wherein a pair of forceps Ed is mounted in the aperture 28. Said forceps comprise handles 51 and jaws 5?; pivoted together at 53. The jaws 52 are threaded downwardly through the aperture 23 to project below the plate whereby when said plate is tilted away from the burner B, the lowermost work end 54 of the forceps is pivoted upwardly and outwardly where it is readily accessible to the flame F of said burner.

It will be readily understood that both the needle-like instruments 24 and the plier-like instruments 40-50 may be sterilized simultaneously by using two burners or sterilizing devices at opposite sides of the rack 1. It will also be understood that simple modifications in the rack may be made, such as modifications in the size or number of the slots 23 or the aperture 28, without departing from the spirit of this invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An adjustable rack for bacteriological handling instruments comprising a base, a vertically upstanding column rotatably mounted in said base, a continuous sleeve slidably telescoped over said column and vertically adjustable thereon, said sleeve having a cylindrical lower portion adapted to receive said column and an upper axially offset cylindrical portion having an internal diameter greater than the internal diameter of said lower portion, securing means associated with said sleeve for optionally securing said sleeve to said column in any vertically adjusted position, a tray for holding said instruments, said tray comprising a flat, rectangular plate having upwardly perpendicularly disposed walls adjacent to opposite edges thereof, said walls having slots therein disposed at right angles to said plate, the slot in one said wall being so positioned relative to the slot in the other said wall as to nestingly receive a shank portion of a bacteriological handling instrument simultaneously disposed in both said slots, said tray having an arm extending downwardly therefrom, a cylindrical tube pivotably connected to said arm, said tube being rotatably mounted at its lower end in said upper cylindrical portion of said sleeve, whereby said tray may be vertically adjusted and tilted to any desired angle.

2. An adjustable rack for bacteriological handling instruments comprising a base, a vertically upstanding column rotatably mounted in said base, a continuous sleeve slidably telescoped over said column and vertically adjustable thereon, said sleeve having a cylindrical lower portion adapted to receive said column and an upper axially ofiset cylindrical portion having an internal diameter greater than the internal diameter of said lower portion, securing means associated with said sleeve for optionally securing said sleeve to said column in any vertically and rotatably adjusted position, a tray for holding said instruments, said tray having an arm extending downwardly therefrom, a cylindrical tube pivotably connected to said arm, said tube being rotatably mounted at its lower end in said upper cylindrical portion of said sleeve, whereby said tray may be vertically adjusted and tilted to any desired angle.

Fisher Modern Lab. Appliances, Catalog 59, pp. 751, 860 and 861.

Kennedy: Design, June 1959, p. 44.

Nadel: Chemist Analyst, vol. 43, #1 (1954), p. 25. 

1. AN ADJUSTED RACK FOR THE BACTERIOLOGICAL HANDLING INSTRUMENTS COMPRISING A BASE, A VERTICALLY UPSTANDING COLUMN ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN SAID BASE, A CONTINUOUS SLEEVE SLIDABLY TELESCOPED OVER SAID COLUMN AND VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE THEREON,SAID SLEEVE HAVING A CYLINDRICAL LOWER PORTION ADAPTED TO RECEIVE SAID COLUMN AND AN UPPER AXIALLY OFFSET CYLINDRICAL PORTION HAVING AN INTERNAL DIAMETER GREATER THAN THE INTERNAL DIAMETER OF SAID LOWER PORTION, SECURING MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID SLEEVE FOR OPTIONALLY SECURING SAID SLEEVE TO SAID COLUMN IN ANY VERTICALLY ADJUSTED POSITION, A TRAY FOR HOLDING SAID INSTRUMENTS, SAID TRAY COMPRISING A FLAT, RECTANGULAR PLATE HAVING UPWARDLY PERPENDICALY DISPOSED WALLS ADJUSTED TO OPPOSITE EDGES THEREOF, SAID WALLS HAVING SLOTS THEREIN DISPOSED AT RIGHT ANGLES TO SAID PLATE, THE SLOT IN ONE SAID WALL BEING SO POSISTIONED RELATIVE TO THE SOLT IN THE OTHER SAID WALL AS TO NESTINGLY RECEIVE A SHANK PORTION OF A BACTERIOLOGICAL HANDLING INSTRUMENT SOMULTANEOUSLY DISPOSED IN BOTH SAID SLOTS, SAID TRAY HAVING AN ARM EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY THEREFROM, A CYLINDRICAL TUBE PIVOTABLY CONNECTED TO SAID ARM, SAID TUBE BEING ROTATABLY MOUNTED AT ITS LOWER END IN SAID UPPER CYLINDRICAL PORTION OF SAID SLEEVE, WHEREBY SAID TRAY MAY BE VERTICALLY ADJUSTED AND TILTED TO ANY DESIRED ANGLE. 